Nothing like Frostval
by The Darklight Angel
Summary: A few days before Frostval, Maria and Serras find something that will change their lives for the better. Loosely connected to the shoujoai chain, but not part of it. Now, slightly edited. Hope you enjoy this gift Xenolord! And Merry Christmas Everyone!


"Damn it's cold out here!" Maria yelled as she shivered and stamped her feet.

"No, really? I couldn't tell." Serras Nerra quipped next to her as she looked at the other guardian. Maria rolled her eyes, and continued trudging through the snow.

"Jeez, a two days till Frostval, and he still isn't letting up on us." She grumbled as she adjusted her hat.

"Tell me about it; you'd think the guy would be tired of missions by now!" Serras said venomously "Honestly; Rayne, Trip, and Aria have gave their classes a break. But no, we just had to have the stuck-up, stingy flirt as our leader!"

The two guardians growled in unison as they stared up at the sky. "Not to mention that that damn playboys made us hold everyone up!"

The pair had been sent out on a mission that Artix had given them spontaneously, and ironically just before dinner; apparently, there were reports of a monster attacking the rural areas of Battleon, and as it turned out, it was a false alarm. Just a few wolves that had been out scouting for food.

"People are so worrisome these days. Most of the real trouble makers are hibernating by now." Serras ran her hand through her hair and sighed tiredly. Maria nodded in agreement

"I think it's about time we head back to Battleon now." She said thoughtfully. "Ya know Despair; I think you might be onto something there." Serras grinned as she set the co-ordinates on the portal-matic. Maria grinned back at her, and headed toward the open portal. Just before she stepped through, Maria froze. Serras turned around to glance at her.

"Something wrong Maria?" Maria simply hushed the ex-mage, and stood silent. "There it is again…' She mumbled quietly.

"There's what again?" Serras blinked in confusion. Maria suddenly ran off in another direction. "What the- Maria, wait up!"

Serras ran after her, and before long they came to a burnt down house structure. Serras looked around curiously. "What is this place?" Maria didn't answer. She just walked around and touched a still upstanding beam, and hushed her again. "Can't you hear it?"

"Hear what?"

"Listen carefully."

Serras frowned and opened her mouth, but stopped suddenly. "What was that?"

Maria cocked her head to the side and closed her eyes. Suddenly, she snapped them open and ran to a large, blackened lump in the corner. Dropping down to her knees, she brushed away as much of the soot she could, to reveal a pile of boards. "Help me out!" She said to Serras, who dropped to her own knees. With the two working together, it wasn't long before they cleared all the mess away.

A gasp emitted from both of them as they stared, shocked at what they saw.

"Oh my…"

"I think I know what was making the noise now, Serras."

* * *

_Dark Angel presents…_

Nothing like Frostval

Hi. Welcome to Nothing like Frostval. Like the intro? I know I do. I just thought that it would add a little flavour to the story. Anyways, this story is apart from the shoujo-ai chain that Xenolord and I are doing, but is still somewhat connected. I guess it could be considered a Christmas bonus fic I wanted to do. Anyways, this story takes place in the future/ 7-years period. Also, whilst Frostval is more of a season, I'm making it a specific day. With these comments, I leave you to the rest. Enjoy!

Disclaimer – I own Rayne, Lizzie, Trip, and Felix. Xenolord owns Serras Nerra, and Maria and Natalya Despair. I also own Gale, and a few others. Well, I partly own them, as you'll soon find out. Otherwise, neither he nor I own any of these. I also don't own the lullaby. Johannes Brahms does.

* * *

"Where are they?" Rayne muttered to herself as she stared worriedly out the pet shop window, whilst wringing her hand around a water bottle. "They should have been here by now…"

"I think Krieger sent them on a mission." Rayne whirled around and immediately went into a fighting stance, before sighing in relief as she saw it was just Natalya. She dropped her hands and placed them on her hips. "This late?"

Natalya shrugged calmly "Hey, you know him. He's like a freaking slave driver." Rayne laughed quietly before sighing. "Yeah, I know. But really, they should've been here. They haven't missed a dinner yet and never ever would they skip out on us." For a few years now, Safiria, Maria, and all the others had came together about once every week for a large dinner.

"Don't fret so much Rayne. I'm sure kitten and Serras should be here any minute now." Safiria mused as she walked into the shop living room (like I said in Forever, it did have an expansion. It's basically the back room) and peered out the window. "But I hope it's soon; it's starting to snow!"

A minute later, Trip, Aria, and Lizzie came out of the kitchen to see the 3 of them with their faces pressed against the window. "What are you doing?" Lizzie asked, staring incredulously at all of them.

"Watching the snow." The knight and guardian responded immediately, not bothering to turn around. Safiria turned around, and gave them a cool glance "and looking for Maria and Natalya." "That too." Rayne added quickly grinning nervously at the vampire. Everyone chuckled softly and shook their heads.

A cold draft quickly brought everyone back to their senses, and a tsking sound could be heard. "Now, now, Rayne, isn't it your belief that you should always pay attention to your surroundings?' Maria stood in front of them, an arm outstretched, waggling a finger at Rayne, with her eyes closed. Rayne just threw the bottle at her, causing it to hit her in the side of the face.

"Itai…" she groaned out. She quickly recovered from the attack, and smiled charmingly at everyone. "Sorry for keeping you up, hope we're not late." Serras said as she came out, brushing some of the snow off of her jacket.

"Not too late, you're just in time actually." Natalya walked over to Serras and gave her a kiss on the cheek and a hug. After the date, they had committed to a real, full-time relationship. Serras and Maria sighed in relief at the knowledge.

A small cough was heard from behind Maria. Everyone turned to look at her. "Oh, I almost forgot, there's going to be someone new joining us for dinner." Maria explained, grinning sheepishly.

Serras turned around in Natalya's arms to stare at Maria angrily. "I can't believe you almost forgot!" Maria blew a lock of hair out of her eyes, and returned the look.

"Well, Miss Nerra, it seems you forgot yourself!"

Serras blushed slightly, before mumbling something darkly and glaring at her. Safiria stared confused at the two "What are you talking about?"

Maria broke off her glare with the guardian, and looked behind her. Something was shuffling quietly there. She turned around and crouched down, but still high enough so that they couldn't see what it was properly "It's alright." The younger Despair sibling coaxed "They won't hurt you; why don't you come out and let me introduce you?" It was quiet for a moment before Maria gave a happy sound and stood up once again.

"Everyone, I'd like you to meet our guest." She smiled once again cheerfully, before moving to the side. Right behind, was what appeared to be a 3 year old girl, with slightly messy dark blue-black hair and grey eyes, dressed in what appeared to be Maria's winter jacket. "This is Gale." Gale raised a small hand and waved it tentatively "H-hi."

It was silent for a moment before three words filled the room. "She's so cute!" Everyone ran forward. Gale moved back, surprised, as they knelt down to get a better look at her. Maria put a reassuring hand on her back. "Don't worry." Gale looked up at Maria and whispered quietly "Alright Maria". Maria grinned back at her, and looked up to the rest of them.

"One at a time, folks, she's shy." They all pouted, but backed off slightly. Safiria kept her spot and leaned in a little closer to the girl. "I'm Safiria. It's very nice to meet you, Gale." Safiria held out her hand to the girl and gave her a small smile. She looked at the Vamp's hand, and looked up at Maria. "She won't bite." Maria said to the small girl "Well, unless it's Maria…" Serras mumbled. Rayne gave her a death glare, and she quickly shut her mouth.

Gale looked at Safiria once more, and took her hand. Safiria shook it gently, and the two smiled at each other. Just looking at the two, you could tell that an instant bond had been formed between them. As Gale released her hand and looked adoringly up at Safiria, Maria knelt down next to her and said to her softly "You know, Gale, you're quite lucky; it isn't every day that you meet a queen."

Gale gasped and looked back to the pale woman. "Y-you're a queen?"

Safiria laughed at her look. "Well, yes. But please, don't start calling me 'your highness or something like that. I'm just Safiria." Gale nodded shyly. (Gale may be 3, but she's very smart, rather aware of situations around her, and capable of speaking English perfectly. That can happen in real life, it's not impossible, just highly improbable)

"Okay."

With that, Safiria moved back, and the rest of them moved forward. She looked up to Maria, who gave her a comforting smile. A brave look came onto Gale's face, and she stood her ground. They all smiled at the shy girl. Maria's words and actions seemed to have quite an effect on her. Gale took a deep breath, and breathed out. "S-so, what are your names?"

They all went in a semi-circle around her, all on their knees.

"Hi Gale, I'm Natalya. I'm Maria's older sister." Natalya gave her a cheery grin.

"I'm Trip." Trip said to her, with the same smile that was on Natalya's face. Gale gave her a confused glance. "Why do they call you Trip?"

"Cause she falls down a lot." Rayne's amused voice rang out. Trip gave an ashamed sigh, and moved away.

"My name's Rayne." Rayne saluted the young girl. Gale giggled quietly at her. "It's nice to see that I made you laugh." She said to her quietly, giving her a rare happy smile.

"It really is." Lizzie crawled over to the two, held out a hand to Gale, and gave her a trademark bright smile. "Lizzie."

"And I'm Aria." Aria gave Gale a pleasant look. Gale returned it, full force.

"Well then." Maria clapped her hands together, and stared at them all. "Now that you've met everyone, why don't we eat dinner?" An appreciated sound came form all of them, and they turned toward the table.

"Oh; wait a minute…I'll be right back." Maria sprinted out into the cold and down the street to the guardian tower. A few minutes later, she came back, holding onto a pile of clothes. "Now, I know these will probably be big for you, but it'll do for now."

She led Gale to another room, and they emerged later, with Gale dressed in an over-sized sweater and pants (that actually an old pair of Maria's shorts.) while Maria came out holding a bunch of dirty rags. "Now let's eat!"

* * *

They all sat down to the prepared and luckily still warm dinner. It was spent with many jokes, many laughs, a few glares, and Safiria trying to stuff Gale full. ("Honestly, she's as thin as a rake!")

After dinner, they crowded around the fire, all with mugs of hot chocolate, and entertaining Gale, by acting out a story that Natalya was reading aloud. "…and then, by sheer luck, the little moglin just managed to move out of the way of the werepyre." Rayne, playing the moglin, stood her ground, and rolled out of the way of Maria, who was the werepyre, pretended to pounce on her.

"The evil werepyre fell off the cliff, never to be heard of again. And so, the littlest moglin returned to his home. He had finally done it; he had become a hero." Maria fell to the ground, pretending to play dead, as Rayne stood up, and walked over to everyone, who cheered and clapped for her. Gale gave out a small 'yay', before falling back, yawning. They all looked at the little girl, and smiled at her fondly.

"So then…" Maria whispered as she stood and dusted herself off "I guess you want the story behind this kid, huh?" Natalya put the book down, and rested her head on her chin. "That would be nice."

Maria ran her fingers through her hair and sighed, "We found her just as we were about to come back from the mission. Just as we were about to step into the portal, I heard something. Something like whimpering. I thought it was just my imagination, but then I heard it again." "So she took off, and I followed her." Serras commented. "Eventually, we got to this big burnt wreckage place. The whimpering was coming from there. I listened until I realized that it was coming from this lump in the corner."

"So, we kept digging at it, until we cleared it all away. And guess who was behind the lump?"

"Gale." Natalya finished, with a serious expression on her face.

"Yup. It took a while, but we managed to coax her into coming with us." Serras said, as her gaze wandered to the girl in question.

"What about her parents?" Lizzie asked, also glancing at Gale. "As far as I can tell, she was the only one that survived. Everything else was pretty much burnt down."

"So, what are we going to do?" Safiria questioned, as she kneeled down next to the child, picked her up, and covered her with a blanket. Gale, still half awake, snuggled into her touch quickly.

"Well, I guess we'll keep her with us until we can properly decide what to do." Maria answered, as she leaned over and patted her on the head. She stood up, stretched, and glanced at the clock in the room. "I think we should be going now; it's pretty late."

"Speaking of going…" Trip said as she glanced out the window, "I think its best you all stay the night." They all gave the knight a confused look "Why do you think that love?" Aria asked her, her eyebrows rising slightly. "Take a look outside."

The snow, while light before, was now blowing heavily, and the wind seemed to be particularly fast. "It's a blizzard." "I see what you mean." Rayne commented lightly as she observed the window for the second time last night.

"Well then, if you're all to stay, I'll get some blankets and pillows. Serras, Natalya, you take the loft. Felix isn't here, she'll be back tomorrow. Rayne, Lizzie, you'll have to make do with the living room. Maria, Safiria, you two take the spare room." Aria stated as she stood up and headed out to fetch the aforementioned items.

The two vamps looked at each other, then back at Aria. "Why us?"

Aria turned on her heel to look at them. "Because, Gale needs a bed, and she seems to be the most attached to you two." The two nodded as realization dawned in their eyes. Aria smiled, and span around again. Before every left, Rayne's voice rang through the room.

"Everyone?" Everyone turned to look at Rayne, who had a small smile playing on her face. "I know one thing that we CAN do with Gale."

"What's that Rayne?"

"Make sure that she has the best Frostval ever." The others smiled at Rayne's proposal.

"Of course." They answered. Rayne moved forward, and thrust her hand out. "For Gale." Everyone moved over to Rayne, and put their hands on top of hers.

"For Gale!"

* * *

Gale laughed as she bounced up and down on the bed. Safiria sighed at the energetic little girl.

'Honestly, Gale, weren't you almost asleep about 10 minutes ago?"

Gale shrugged, and stopped bouncing. "Almost, but now I don't think I can sleep!" She started bouncing up and down again. Suddenly, hands shot out and caught her in mid-bounce Gale gasped out in surprise, and looked up into the red eyes of Maria.

"Now, now, Gale, you have to sleep." She scolded the brunette gently, and set her gently on the bed. "But I'm not sleepy, Maria!" She cried out. "You actually are Gale." Maria responded. "Lie down for a minute"

Gale pouted, but did as she was asked. The moment she hit the pillow, she did seem to almost fall asleep immediately. Almost. "But, I'm not sleepy…" Maria gave the girl a tired look. "How do we get you to sleep?"

"How about a lullaby?" Maria turned to see her sister, leaning in the doorway. 'That's a great idea sis!" Her face brightened rapidly, but that disappeared as quickly as it came.

"But I don't know any."

Natalya gave a disgusted look. "Don't you remember?" Maria blinked.

"Remember what?"

Natalya gave another look to her sister, before getting off the doorway, and coming to sit on the bed. She cleared her throat, before singing out softly: _Lullaby, and good night, with pink roses bedight_…

Maria's eyes widened as the lyrics of the song came back to her. She cleared her own throat, before chanting out the next line; _With lilies o'er spread, is my baby's sweet head._

The two sang out the rest of the song, and before long, Gale was fast asleep. As the sisters sang out the last word, Safiria turned to them, the corners of her mouth upturned. "I didn't know you could sing" She said to both of them, her eyes twinkling.

"To tell you the truth…" Natalya started faintly "…neither did we." Maria finished for her. Safiria chuckled at them and rolled her eyes. "Where did you learn that song?"

The smile on both Despairs faces faded slowly. "Our mother taught us that song, before she…passed away." Maria mumbled sadly, as she hung her head. Natalya looked away from her sister, and out the window of the bedroom.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have brought it up…"

"No, no, it's our fault." Maria insisted to her wife quickly, although still not looking up.

"We don't talk about her much." Natalya said quietly, still staring out the window.

"She was a great mother. She always made sure that I was well fed, and that I had an education. She didn't seem angry at me when I left home. She didn't try to stop me. She just told me that it was my life, and that she would respect any choice that I made. She did seem sad though…" The elder sibling murmured.

"Same for me. Although, she died before I could leave home." Maria gave a feeble laugh. Natalya gave a weak snort, and turned around to face Maria, who raised her head at the same time. Both had tears in their eyes.

Safiria gave an understanding look to both of them, and pulled them in for a hug. "I miss mama…" They said, only loud enough for each other and Safiria to hear. "It's alright." The vampress crooned, as she embraced them both. "It's alright."

After a few minutes, they let go of each other. "Thanks, Safiria." Natalya said to her. "I'm happy to have such a sister-in-law."

"Really, Safiria, we mean it. Thank you." Maria said to her, as she leaned in and kissed her gently. "No problem." Safiria told them. "Now we should all get some sleep. We've got to get our rest if were going to entertain this kid." They all laughed quietly. Gale just rolled over, and a soft smile spread on her face.

* * *

"Happy Frostval Eve Trip! Happy Frostval Eve Aria!" Felix called out as she burst in through the door. She stopped, surprised as she saw everyone else there, enjoying breakfast. " Happy Frostval Eve to you too, Felix." Rayne called out to her friend as she sipped her tea calmly.

"Sorry." She apologized as she sat down at the table. "I just didn't expect to see you all here." She picked up a muffin, and gave them a glance "By the way, what are you doing here? And who's that?"

"Were here the same reason you weren't here last night." Rayne said to her. Felix cocked her head and stared at her "You were at a Christmas rave party?" Maria spit out her juice onto Natalya. "Dear Creator Maria, will you watch what your doing?!"

"No, Felix, we weren't having a rave party. We got stuck here 'cause of the blizzard last night." Rayne answered, twitching slightly. "And this is Gale." Gale looked up at Felix and waved to her, the toast in her mouth causing her to become temporarily mute.

"Nya?" Felix stood up, and leapt over the table to land next to Gale. "Hiyas!" She gave her a silly grin. "I'm Felix, cat-demon extraordinaire!" Gale fished chewing her toast, and set it down on her plate, before turning to face Felix.

"H-hello." Gale greeted her. She cocked her own head, before grabbing Felix's ears on top of her head. "Are t-these r-real?" She tugged at them gently.

"Nya…" Felix mumbled, before wincing. "Yeah, their real."

Gale gave one last tug, before returning to her toast. "Cool." She said, and bit into it.

Felix shrugged, and looked back to everyone. "So, how did she get here?" She asked before biting into her muffin.

"Long story short: Maria and Serras found her and brought her for dinner last night."

Serras responded. "Oh."

Rayne took another sip from her tea, and looked back to everyone. "So; what's the plan for today?"

Lizzie finished her milk, and looked to her wife. "Well, while we wrap-up setting things up for you-know-what, Maria and Safiria will go out to spend a day with Gale." Spending a day in the sunlight was possible for Maria, since she still had the amulet from Warlic.

"Alright then." Rayne drank the last of her tea, gave Lizzie a lingering kiss, and picked up a list on the table. "I'll go and get the necessities."

"We'll go now too." Maria smiled as she pulled her coat on. "We'll be back later." With that, she, Gale, and Safiria stood up, and walked out the door.

"Know where were going today Gale?" Safiria asked her cheerfully. Gale shook her head, as she walked down the street with the two. "Were going to go buy you some clothes that fit." Maria laughed out. "I mean, you can't go around the whole day wearing and old sweater and some torn pants." The three of them laughed, and headed to the Battleonian markets.

* * *

Gale headed out the store, dressed in a totally new outfit. She wore a dark blue sweater that actually fit, and some warm, black pants. She was also adorned in a fancy white winter coat, and wearing new snow boots.

Maria walked out after her. staring at the receipt, totally awed by the number. "Holy Creator, I never knew it cost that much for boots!" Safiria laughed softly, and looked at Maria teasingly. "Well kitten, now you know." Maria sighed, but nodded. "I'll be back soon. I have to see Artix about something. And at least Rayne volunteered to pay for everything!"

-Back at Aria's-

Rayne paused and shivered slightly _'Why do I feel like most of my money is gone?'_. Lizzie gave her a worried glace. "Something wrong Rayne?" Rayne shook her head slightly. "Nothing, Lizzie, nothing to be worried about." Lizzie looked relieved, and she ran forward to give her a kiss on the cheek.

"That's good. We can't have you getting sick on a night like tonight!" Rayne smiled at her. "We sure can't. We also can't have it not done when they get back. So go on; get your cute face outta here!" Lizzie laughed again, and ran back into another room.

-Back to the 3-

"Now then, since that's done, why don't we get some lunch?" Maria asked both of them. Safiria and Gale nodded. "Let's." Gale took one of Maria's hands, and Safiria took the other. They walked all the way to Yulgar's like that: hand in hand, happy and laughing.

* * *

"Okay, Gale, We've got a special surprise for you! Open your eyes right…..now!"

Gale opened her eyes, and gasped at what she saw. They were in a perfectly frozen over field. The sun was glimmering on it, making the snow glare brightly. Gale smiled happily at it. "It's so pretty!"

Safiria laughed. "I know, but that's not just the only reason we're here." Gale turned to look at the Vampire queen. "It's not?"

"No it isn't." She answered the girl. "Then why are we here?" Safiria looked kindly at her. "We're here becau-" Safiria's sentence was cut off, as a snowball came whizzing out of nowhere, hitting her squarely on her back.

"Maria!" She gasped out, turning to look at her wife angrily. Maria stood there, tossing a snowball up and down in one hand. "Well, Safiria, we can't spend all day chattering ya know! So I figured, why not show the kid what we mean!"

Safiria frowned, and opened her mouth but stopped. "You know, you're right." Maria stopped tossing the snowball to stare at her in disbelief. "I am?" Safiria simply knelt down, packed some the snow together, and threw it at Maria, hitting her solidly in the face. "Yes, you are!"

Maria gave a shocked look at Maria, before a smile slowly spread across her face, before she yelled out

"SNOWBALL FIGHT!"

* * *

The three came back to the shop, all laughing and covered with snow. As they approached the back door, The Despairs knelt down, so they could look eye to eye with her.

"No Gale, it's time for your last surprise of the day." Maria said softly to her. "We hope you enjoy it." Safiria smiled. They stood up straight once again, and opened the door.

They gently pushed Gale inside. It was dark, before the lights switched on and Gale could see the giant Frostval tree in the corner, covered in lights, and everyone dressed up, holding presents out.

"Merry Frostval Gale!" They yelled out. Gale gasped, and ran up to each of them, giving them a huge hug. "Enjoy your presents, Gale!" Everyone cheered. "Let the party begin!"

Hours later, 11:59 P.M…

Everyone sighed happily as they relaxed near the fire again. "Have fun Gale?" Aria asked her quietly. Gale nodded her head, and clutched tight to the stuffed bear she had gotten from Lizzie and Rayne. "I-it was really fun. T-thank you for all the presents."

"But Gale…" Maria said to her, a smirk on her face "We didn't give you all the presents yet!" The girl looked curiously at Maria "Wh-what do you m-mean?"

Maria shared a look with Safiria, and they got onto their knees. "Remember how I left for a bit during lunch?" Gale nodded, and looked at the two seriously. "Well, I went to talk with Artix. About you. And you know what?"

Gale shook her head, and stared intently at them.

Safiria smiled at her.

"We're going to adopt you Gale. That means that you're going to officially be Gale Despair."

Gale gasped out loud, and tears came to the little girl's eyes. She ran into her new parent's open arms.

"Thank you, thank you!" She cried out, as she fiercely hugged both of them. They smiled, and hugged her back.

Natalya looked at Serras, who was curled up in her lap. "There really is nothing like Frostval, is there?" Serras smiled, and shook her head. "No, there isn't."

The clock struck 12, and Maria smiled happily, as she looked at her wife, and her daughter.

'_My daughter.'_ She thought, as she looked at Gale happily

'_I know we made the right choice adopting you Gale; I hope you have a happy life with us.'_

* * *

Frostval Day, Years Later…

An older Gale sighed as she stared at her watch. "Where could she be?" She muttered to herself. "She's not usually late…"

Hands covered her eyes suddenly. "Sorry I'm late." A voice said. Gale smile and turned around.

A redhead with a mix of amethyst and green eyes stared teasingly back at her. "It's alright Kay." Gale said softly, as she leaned down to kiss her.

The redhead was Kira 'Kay' Anasi: daughter of Rayne and Lizzie Anasi, one of the best knights, and her girlfriend.

"My parent won't mind, but Mrs. Despair doesn't like to wait." Kay pointed out as she stepped away from Gale. Gale tilted her head to the side. "Which one? Mama or Aunt Natalya?"

"Both." The two laughed. "We better hurry; we don't want either of them upset." Gale finally said.

"Alright." Kay ran past her, and stopped a few metres ahead. "Hurry up my little nightingale; we don't want to be late!" Gale smiled at her pet-name. "You know; they'll be ticked anyways. If it's not us that are late, it's Alex and Sage."

"True, true." A smirk very much like Rayne's played on her face. "Not to mention their more likely to be late for necking with each other than us."

Alex was Alexis Hitai, the daughter of Aria and Trip, the current commanding Lycan-slayer, and a high ranking knight.

Sage was Sage Despair, the daughter (duh) of Natalya and Serras. She was a guardian (like Gale herself) and Gale's cousin. Even though Gale was adopted, they truly were blood cousins (they considered), as they had cut themselves and let their blood mingle when they were younger.

Both of them were currently in a relationship with each other. And it was true; Alex and Sage were more likely to be late for that purpose.

"Let's hurry anyways! If were early, we can try some of the good stuff!" Gale cheered out. Kay nodded in agreement. They took each other's hand, and ran to Aria's shop.

-

When they arrived at the shop, they were surprised to see Sage and Alex already there, sitting in the dining room. "There you are!" Alex yawned as she stared at the two with sleepy eyes; one amber, the other sapphire.

"We thought you'd never get here." Sage grinned as she brushed her oddly coloured, but still appealing hair out of her eyes (mix off light green and red)

"We though you wouldn't even BE here." Gale laughed as she sat across from her cousin. Sage rolled her eyes, and a mock angry look crossed her features.

"Alex, did you hear that? Gale thinks that we were out again!" Alex rolled her eyes and scowled playfully "How rude!"

Kay crossed her arms. "Well, you do spend a lot of time snogging and making out." With that comment, both Alex and Sage blushed.

"Oh yeah? Well…" The argument continued. What all four didn't notice, was the pair of eyes staring at them from the kitchen.

-

"They're at it again." Rayne sighed as she stared out the door.

"Well, you can't expect them to get along all the time, can you?" Maria quipped as she set a pot onto a nearby table.

"Yes, well..."

Maria gave a smile, and shook her head. "You know, they remind me of us when we were younger."

"They are our children." Trip rolled her eyes.

"I know that." Maria said, quite obviously irked at her

"You should be used to the snippy comments by now, Maria." Natalya smiled at her sister. "You're probably going to have to get even more used to them, if my prediction is correct.

A look of horror came onto Maria's face "It was hard enough getting used to Serras being my sister in law; now Trip?!"

Trip glared at Maria. "And just what is wrong with that?" Everyone stared at the two as their bickering filled the kitchen.

A shrill whistle stopped them. Safiria, Lizzie and Aria gave them all a look. "Stop that arguing, and hurry up! It's time for Frostval dinner!" Trip and Maria looked at each other, and shook hands in truce. They all walked out of the kitchen.

-

"Who's hungry?" Serras called out as they stepped into the dining room

The glaring match between all of them stopped as the group appeared. "I am! I am!" Kay yelled out as she and the others hopped up and down in their seats.

"I'm sure you are." Rayne said dryly as she took a seat next to her daughter. "Mom." Kay said in an exasperating tone. "Rayne, really." Lizzie chided as she sat on the other side of Rayne. Rayne just shrugged.

"So, why the noise?" Safiria asked as she sat on the other side of Gale (who was sitting right next to Kay) "Hmm?" Maria put in as she sat on the other side of Maria.

"Care explaining to us?" Trip and Aria asked as they sat in the same order (Alex and Sage are sitting next to each other) as the others.

"Please?" Serras and Natalya said as they sat in the same manner.

"Uh…can we eat?" Alex asked nervously as the parents all focused on their (not so much) kids. They all laughed at her quietly.

"Sure thing." They said, as they dug into the food. As they all ate, drank, and were merry, Gale looked fondly onto her family, and everyone else at the table. Maria lifted her head, and saw the glance from Gale. She nodded, and smiled at her. Gale did the same.

As Gale finally let herself eat the food, a single thought went across both the Parent and the teen's heads.

'_There really is Nothing like Frostval.'_

The End

Like I said, Kay and Gale don't totally belong to me. Rayne and Lizzie and co. had a daughter cause of some special spell, that's all I can think of right now. Like I said, I made Frostval be featured on a special day, instead of a whole season. Hope you enjoy this.

Merry Christmas everyone!


End file.
